“The best economic evidence seems to show that modest minimum-wage increases have very limited macroeconomic impacts in terms of overall growth and employment. They can, however, have positive impacts for both workers and their employers in low-wage sectors of the economy,” wrote York University Packer Professor of social justice Andrew Jackson in The Globe and Mail March 7. “It is far from clear why higher productivity prompted by higher wages is a bad thing. And it is worth underlining that even small negative impacts on employment arising from a minimum-wage increase will leave the great majority of minimum-wage workers better off.” Read full story.
Terence Corcoran: Canada’s energy superpower dreams
For some reason Canada is suddenly awash in grand projects and industrial schemes, the product of a new national dream created some seven years ago by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, reported the Financial Post March 6….At the Vancouver-based Asia Pacific Foundation on Wednesday, a couple of consultants – Boston Consulting’s George Stalk and York University Professor Charles McMillian – produced a grand strategy paper calling for a massive infrastructure megaproject aimed at making Canada the “North American Gateway” for a flow of goods and resources from a giant port in Prince Rupert, B.C. Read full story.
B.C. election outlook: Is Christy Clark's goose cooked?
"The B.C. NDP has a long history of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory," said York University political science Professor Dennis Pilon in The Province March 7. "They excel at losing." If you include the party's previous incarnation as the Co-Operative Commonwealth Federation, the NDP has lost 19 of 22 B.C. elections, Pilon noted. Read full story.
’The Next Step’ puts drama in a dance studio
When Frank Van Keeken set out to make a TV drama about the subculture of dance, there was one important requirement: the stars had to be real dancers, reported the Toronto Star March 7. Thus every cast member on “The Next Step”, which debuts on Family Channel on Friday at 7pm, has dance credentials….Indeed, the show is packed with dancing, whether in the studio scenes or the competition scenes, which were shot at York University. Read full story.